Johnson City, Tennessee, isn’t exactly a hot destination for Williams alums. The town of 65,000 is tucked in the Northeast corner of the state—a two-hour drive from Knoxville and more than four hours from Nashville. A National Forest lies to the east, and to the south, the gentle summits of the Great Smoky Mountains grace the horizon. Drive a few minutes outside of town, and the fast food restaurants give way to fields. It’s here that Anna Swisher and Trey Wright share a home.

Understanding the couple’s life here goes well beyond their professional titles. Swisher is a track coach, but she is also a PhD fellow and a professor. Wright is a freelance corporate writer and editor, but, along with Swisher, he’s also a children’s book author and the president of the publishing company the couple launched for their book. Both are also homesteaders with much of their food coming from a swath of land behind their rented home.

I traveled to Wright and Swisher’s East Tennessee farm to hear about their journey and learn about the good life in Johnson City.[Read more…]